Canberra is one of the most significant products of twentieth century planning. The conventional historiography of its origins divides into three successive phases but the aim of this paper is to recover this 'prehistory' of planning to give some insight into the state of early...

When the first peg was driven by King O’Malley on 20 February 1913 to start construction of Australia’s capital the work was based, not on the thoroughbred design of Griffin, but on a camel designed by a committee.

A long-standing debate over the nature and merits of 'rational comprehensive' versus 'incrementalist' models of public decision-making is continued in the papers on their application to planning by Max Neutze and John Mant. Neutze reviews the post-war optomistic rise of comprehensive planning, and its subsequent...

With self-government, a worldwide reputation as a beautiful, planned city, and a stable base of people and jobs, Canberra has achieved much. The time has come, not only for birthday congratulations, but also for a look to the future. In particular, we ask how the...